WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. -- Chris Paul wanted to make sure he
made an immediate impact the first time he met Skip Prosser.
The star guard was a high school player at an AAU tournament
several years ago in Florida when, in a desperate attempt to catch
the Wake Forest coach's eye, he walked directly into Prosser's
path.
"I bumped into him purposefully so Coach would get to know who
I am," Paul said through tears Tuesday night during Prosser's
funeral. "At the time, I never knew this man would change my life
forever. He gave us a chance. He cared about us, and he helped us
not only grow as basketball players but also as men."
Prosser, who died suddenly last Thursday of an apparent heart
attack, was remembered five days later as an engaging, congenial
coach who brought integrity to the sport and reignited the
students' passion for Wake Forest basketball by leading Paul's
final Demon Deacons team to the first No. 1 ranking in school
history.
"His integrity was unwavering," Wake Forest associate head
coach Dino Gaudio said. "Those of us that were blessed to be under
his charge will carry that with us for the rest of our lives."
Former Pittsburgh Steelers coach Bill Cowher, Michigan State's
Tom Izzo, former Virginia coach Pete Gillen and ex-Wake Forest
guard Muggsy Bogues joined the 11 other Atlantic Coast Conference
coaches -- including Tobacco Road rivals Mike Krzyzewski of Duke and
Roy Williams of North Carolina -- in packing the Catholic church
where Prosser's funeral was held.
"This is the very last day of the recruiting period, and I see
so many coaches," Gaudio said with a smile. "If he couldn't be on
the road recruiting, you guys couldn't be on the road recruiting
either."
Penn State coach Ed DeChellis, who shared ties to western
Pennsylvania with the Pittsburgh-born Prosser, called him "my
dearest, closest and most trusted friend." He got to know him
through the network of assistant coaches and saying they called
each other several times each week.
"The man I count on for direction is gone," DeChellis said.
"My compass in life has gone to another place."
Shortly after returning from his noon jog last Thursday, Prosser
was found unresponsive and slumped on his office couch by an
assistant coach. Medical personnel performed CPR and used a
defibrillator, but Prosser was pronounced dead after being taken to
Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center.
Prosser spent six seasons with the Demon Deacons, reaching the
NCAA tournament in his first four seasons and winning an ACC
regular-season title and the league's coach of the year award in
2003. The following year, Wake Forest went to No. 1 for the first
time.
"Wake Forest is profoundly grateful for the gifts this
remarkable man spread in our midst," university president Nathan
O. Hatch said.
Before arriving in Winston-Salem, Prosser was head coach at
Xavier for seven seasons and at Loyola of Maryland for one. He is
the only coach to take three schools to the NCAA tournament in his
first season at each.
Prosser had a career record of 291-146, including 126-68 with
Wake Forest, coaching future NBA stars Paul and Josh Howard.
Along the way, he helped create Wake Forest's "tie-dye
nation," encouraging students to wear black-and-gold tie-dye
T-shirts to games at Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum and
dubbing them the "Screaming Deacons." The team's glitzy lineup
introduction -- in which the lights go out, spotlights swirl and the
school mascot revs a Harley-Davidson as he enters the court -- was
another of his creations.
"But away from the games, he was the most understated man I
know," athletics director Ron Wellman said.
The funeral was simulcast at Wait Chapel on the Wake Forest
campus, where several of the roughly 2,000 mourners wore tie-dye
T-shirts in his memory.
The makeshift shrine on the campus quad remained as a tribute to
Prosser, with toilet paper still floating in the breeze from the
ash trees after students "rolled" it in his honor soon after his
death. Dozens of flowers were laid by signs near the entrance, and
one bore one of Prosser's favorite mantras -- "If you can't be on
time, be early. God called this play and Skip left early. Too
early."
"If Coach were here, he'd be upset, because it was never about
Skip," Gaudio said. "It was about the guys."
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AP Sports Writer Aaron Beard in Winston-Salem, N.C., contributed
to this report.